Man who filed complaint against prosecutor now serving sentence

ELLSWORTH, Maine — A former Gouldsboro man convicted last year of assault has begun serving his sentence at Hancock County Jail, just days before his complaint against a local prosecutor is expected to be considered at a hearing in Bangor.

Vladek Filler, 43, who now lives in suburban Atlanta, was acquitted in May 2011 of having raped his wife but was found guilty of misdemeanor assault. He began serving his resulting 21-day sentence on Wednesday, Oct. 17, according to Hancock County Jail records.

The Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar is scheduled to hold a hearing next week on allegations that Filler has filed against Hancock County Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett. The hearing, which is open to the public, is scheduled to take place at Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor on Monday, Oct. 22, and Tuesday, Oct. 23, beginning at 9 a.m. each day.

In an 18-page disciplinary petition that Filler filed in December 2010 with the board, he accuses the prosecutor of violating nine rules of the Maine Bar. Kellett, who led the prosecution against Filler at his first trial in January 2009, is accused of making improper statements during her closing arguments at that trial and of withholding evidence and interfering with subpoenas issued by Filler’s defense attorney.

For the past few years, Filler has been living in Lawrenceville, Ga., with his two sons, whom he was granted custody of in his divorce. He has contended since he was first accused of raping his then-wife in Gouldsboro that his marriage was deteriorating and that she had fabricated the allegations in order to win custody of their boys.

Filler was convicted in January 2009 of gross sexual assault but was granted a retrial after the state supreme court determined that evidence that was barred from testimony should have been allowed and that Kellett made prejudicial statements to the jury during her closing arguments.

Filler was acquitted of felony gross sexual assault during his second trial, held last year in Bangor.

Filler’s second trial was prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh.